Hoist



y 1, 1952 H. F. MINNIS 2,601,970

I-IOIST Filed July 25, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 "nl ln 17 2 van/for: HamZdE 772 67272625.

July 1, 1952- H. F. MlNNlS HOIST Filed July 25-, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 (If/0mm,

Patented July 1, 1952 HOIST Harold F. Minnis, Claremont, N. 11;; assignor to .l'oy Manufacturing Company,. Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application July 25, 1949, Serial No. 106.696 7 Claims. (01. 2 54-135) This invention relates to a hoist, especially to a hoist of the type used in the operation of slushers, or mucking scrapers, as they are sometimes known.

In the operation of slusher hoists, it is customary to use two cable drums which are mounted to be freely rotatable on a continuously rotating shaft. A clutch connects the shaft with a selected drum, the selection depending upon the direction in which the operator chooses to move the slusher. Under the conditions of use in many slusher installations, the clutches are likely to become very hot and may thereby cause overheating of the metal clutching surface.

It is accordingly an object of this invention to provide a slusher hoist in which the clutching surface may be operated with a minimum of down time of the machinery and with a minimum danger of damage due to overheating. It is another object of this invention to provide a slusher hoist with a maximum eifectiveness of control.

The foregoing and other objects are accomplished in a slusher hoist in which a disc type of clutch is engaged by frictional elements which are hydraulically controlled.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a slusher hoist embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a view in elevation from the right end of the machine shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a partial view in section, substantially on line 3-3 of Fig. 2 with parts omitted.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view through the hoist shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a schematic view showing the hydraulic circuit of the hoist control means.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but showing a modification of the invention, and

Fig. 7 is a schematic view showing the hydraulic circuitof a hoist control made according to the modification shown in Fig. 6.

The hoist shown discloses a conventional skid type support or base 2 on which are mounted the two rotating drums, later described, and the drive motor 4. The drive motor 4 is shown as being mounted directly on the housing 6 of the gear reduction unit 8. A hydraulic fluid pump [0 is mounted in the housing 6 and is connected to be driven by the motor 4, and supplies fluid under pressure for control of the system through a conduit l2.

The gear reduction unit 8 comprises a drive pinion l4 mounted on the motor shaft it. A r

relatively large gear [8 meshes with pinion I 4 and is supported on a countershaft which is rotatably mounted in suitable bearings. A second pinion 22 is mounted for rotation by and with gear [8 by means of integral connecting hollow shaft 24. A second comparatively large gear 26 meshes with gear 22 and is mounted on a drive shaft 28. Drive shaft 28 is rotatably supported in antifriction bearings 30 and 32 in the housing Band in end pedestal or support 34, respectively. I

Cable drums 36 and 38 are mounted side by side for rotation on shaft 28 by means of suitable antifri'ction bearings 43. The drums 36 and 38 are freely rotatable with respect to shaft 25. As is best seen in Fig. 4, drum 36 is nearer the motor 4 than is drum 38.

Drums 36 and 38 are provided with cylindrical brake surfaces 42, and conventional brake bands 44 are mounted in position to have frictional engagement with the surfaces 42. The controls for the brake bands 42 may be conventional and need not be detailed herein.

A sun gear 46 is keyed to shaft 28 and is therefore driven thereby. Sun gear 46 is mounted between the motor 4 and the nearer cable drum 36; more specifically gear 46 is mounted between the gear reduction unit 8 and the drum 36. On the other side of the two cable drums 33 and 38 from the motor, there is mounted another sun gear 48. Sun gear 48 is likewise keyed to shaft 28 and is driven thereby. A planet carrier 53 is shown as being integral with drum 35 and consists of a tubular member 52 and a planet gear shaft 54 carried in the tubular member 52. Similarly a planet-carrier 56 is integral with drum 38 and consists of a tubular member 58 and a planet gear shaft 69.

A planet gear 62 is mounted for rotation on suitable antifriction bearings on one end of shaft 54 and meshes with sun gear 46. Although more than one planet gear 62 may be used as will be understood by those skilled in the art, only one is shown in Fig. 4. A planet gear 64 is mounted on one end of shaft on suitable antifriction bearings and meshes with sun gear 48.

An end member 66 ismounted for rotation on shaft 28 by means of suitable bearings and is disposed between the motor 4 and the sun gear 46, immediately adjacent the latter. A second end member 68 is mounted for rotation on shaft 23 on suitable antifriction bearings and is disposed immediately adiacent sun gear 48 at the end of shaft 28 opposite motor 4.

An internal gear is secured to end member 66 for rotation therewith by means of a munber of threaded members, one of which is shown at 12. Gear 10 is mounted to mesh with planet gear 62. Similarly an internal gear 14 is secured to end member 68 for rotation therewith by means of threaded members, one of which is shown at 16.

A disc clutch 18 is mounted integral with end member 66 and extends radially outward therefrom. Another disc clutch 80 is. preferably integral with end member 68 and extends radially outward therefrom.

As is best seen in Figs. 3 and 5, hydraulically actuated friction means are positioned to be engageable with the disc clutches. Only one end member, namely 68, and its associated disc clutch and friction means can be seen in Fig. 3, but the other friction means are substantially the same,

so the showing in Fig. 3 will suflice. As can be seen in that figure, a pair of hydraulic cylinders 82 and 84 are disposed in aligned relation at opposite sides of the disc 80. Reciprocally disposed in cylinders 82 and 84 are pistons 86 and 88, respectively. Pistons 88 and 88 bear against the stems of clutch pad carriers 90. The faces of the clutch pad carriers 90 are provided with any suitable friction material or clutch facing'92.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that additional pairs of opposed clutching cylinders may be provided if desired, as for example those shown at 94 and 96.

It will further be understood by those skilled in the art that similar hydraulic operating cylinders may be provided for the disc 18, as shown schematically in Fig. 5. The hydraulic clutching cylinders there shown in position to engage disc 18 may be identified by the reference characters 98, I00, I02 and I04.

The hydraulic system to operate and control the clutches will now be set forth in further detail. As wasdescribed above, a fluid pump I0 is connected to be drivenby motor 4. Pump I0 draws hydraulic fluid from a sump or tank I09 by way of a conduit I68. The pump discharges fluid under pressure into conduit I2 to a control valve IIO. Control valve IIO consists of an entrance or high pressure section H2, an exhaust section H4 and control sections H6 and H8.

Suitable handles I20 and I22 are provided to ena able control of the fluid supply to the various clutch operating cylinders and the venting of fluid therefrom. Except when the handles I28 and I22 are manipulated to efiect fluid supply to the clutch operatingcylinders, these are vented to the sump or tank I06.

As is evident from Fig. 5, conduit I2 discharges into the high pressuresection H2 and a drain or exhaust conduit I24 connects the exhaust section H6 with the tank I08. A conduit I26 connects control section II6 of the valve with the hydraulic clutching cylinders for disc 18 by way of branches I28, I30, I32 and I34. A conduit I38 connects control section II8 with the clutching cylinders for disc 80 by way of branches I38, I48, I42 and I44.

Referring now to the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 6 and '7, these figures show a hoist made according to the invention, but in which a pair of hand operated pumps takes the place of the motor operated pump I0 of the embodiment shown in Figs. 1-5. The manually operated levers I and I52 are directly connected to the pistons I54 and I58 of pump cylinders 158 and I60 respectively. Conduit I62, with its branch conduits I64, I66, I68 and I16 connects the cylinder I58 with the clutch cylinders I12, I14, I16 and I18 oi the clutch disc 18'. A conduit I80, with its branches I82, I84, I86 and I88, connects the cylinder I60 with the clutch cylinders I90, I92, I94 and I96 of clutch disc 89'.

As will be understood by those skilled in the art, the pump cylinders I58 and I69 may be any of a number of suitable types. The details shown in Fig. 7 are intended to be merely schematic to illustrate the principle. Cylinders I58 and I60 will preferably be supplied from any suitable reservoir I98 through conduits 200 and 202 provided with check valves 204 and 266. The two reservoirs I98 may be a common reservoir for both pump cylinders.

Operation As will be understood by those skilled in the art, a slusher hoist of the type described is operated by driving one cable drum or the other, according to the direction in which the operator desires to move the drag bucket or slusher.

As the operating handle I22 is manipulated to admit fluid under pressure to the conduit I38, the fluid in the branch conduits I38, I49, I42 and I44 is simultaneously subjected to pump discharge pressure (except for losses through the lines). The cylinders 82, 84, 94 and 96 are thereupon subjected to fluid imder pressure, and their respective pistons are moved toward the disc 80, bringing the friction material of the clutch pads into engagement with the disc. As the clutch disc is slowed down, the planet gear 64 begins to rotate in its orbital path about the shaft 28, carrying with it its shaft 60, tubular member58 and thereby the drum 38. A maximum drive speed of drum 38 will be attained when clutch disc 89 is brought to a complete stop.

The drive of drum 36 is similarly accomplished and need not be detailed here.

The two clutch discs 18 and 80 extend radially outward from their supports into the surrounding atmosphere and may be cooled by conduction and radiation to the surroundings.

From the foregoing description of the operation of the embodiment shown in Figs. 1-5, it will be evident to one skilled in the art how the embodiment of Figs. 6 and 7 operates. It need only be noted here that manipulation of levers I58 and I52 itself provides the fluid pressure for the actuation of clutches 18 and 80 through the medium of pump cylinders I58 and I69.

It will be evident to those skilled in the art that this invention provides a slusher hoist having an improved drive and control means therefor.

While there are in this application specifically described two forms which the invention may assume in practice, it will be understood that these forms of the same are shown for purposes of illustration, and that the invention may be modified and embodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a slusher hoist, a shaft; means to drive the shaft; a cable drum freely rotatable on the shaft; a planetary gear train associated with the drum and having sun and planet gears in mesh, a planet carrier comprising a tubular member in-' tegral with the drum and a planet gear support-' ing shaft carried in the tubular member, and an internal gear, the planet and internal gears being also in mesh; a clutch having cooling 5 means including a radially outward extending disc secured to the internal gear and being freely rotatable on the shaft; friction means associated with the disc and movable to engage both sides of the disc; hydraulic cylinder-and-piston means connected to operate the friction means; and valve means to control the last named means.

2. A hoist according to claim 1, in which the friction means and hydraulic cylinder-and-piston means comprise a pair of alined cylinders disposed on opposite sides of the clutch disc, a piston movable in each such cylinder, and a clutch pad connected to the piston for movement therewith.

3. In a slusher hoist, an electric motor, a shaft rotatably mounted in bearings, a gear train connecting the motor with the shaft, a cable drum rotatably mounted on the shaft, a sun gear mounted on the shaft for rotation therewith and thereby, a planet carrier shaft mounted in the drum, a planet gear on the planet carrier shaft and meshing with the sun gear, a rotatable end member mounted on the shaft adjacent the sun gear, an internal gear secured to the end member and meshing with the planet gear, an aircooled disc clutch integral with the end member and projecting radially outward therefrom, a pair of opposed cylinders on opposite sides of the disc, pistons reciprocably mounted in the cylinders, clutch pads on the pistons and positioned adjacent the clutch disc, hydraulic fluid connections to the cylinders, a source of fluid under pressure and means to control the admission of fluid to the cylinders.

4. In a slusher hoist, a shaft; means to drive engage both sides of the disc; hydraulic cylinder and-piston means connected to operate the friction means; and valve means to control the lastnamed means.

5. A hoist according to claim 4, in which the friction means and hydraulic cylinder-and-piston means comprises a pair of alined cylinders disposed on opposite sides of the clutch disc, a piston movable in each such cylinder, and a clutch pad connected to the piston for movement therewith,

6. In a slusher hoist, an electric motor, a shaft rotatably mounted in bearings, a gear train connecting the motor with the shaft, a pair of cable drums rotatably mounted side-by-side on the shaft, a pair of sun gears mounted on the shaft for rotation therewith and thereby, there being one sun gear between the electric motor and the nearer of the two drums and another on the far side of the drums'from the motor, a planet carrier shaft mounted in each drum, a planet gear on each such planet carrier shaft and meshing with its cooperating sun gear, a rotatable end member mounted on the shaft for each sun gear, there being one such end member between the motor and the nearer sun gear and another on the far side of the other sun gear from the motor, an internal gear secured to each end member and meshing with a planet gear, an air-cooled disc clutch integral with each end member and projecting radially outward therefrom, a pair of opposed cylinders on opposite sides of each disc, pistons reciprocably mounted in the cylinders, clutch pads on the pistons and positioned adjacent a clutch disc, hydraulic fluid connections to the cylinders, a source of fluid under pressure,

and means to control the admission of fluid to the cylinders.

7. In a slusher hoist, an electric motor, a shaft rotatably mounted in bearings, a gear train connecting the motor with the shaft, a cable drum rotatably mounted on the shaft, a sun gear mounted on the shaft for rotation therewith and thereby, a planet carrier shaft mounted in the drum, a planet gear on the planet carrier shaft and meshing with the sun gear, a rotatable end member mounted on the shaft adjacent the sun gear, an internal gear secured to the end member and meshing with the planet gear, an ,aircooled disc clutch integral with the end member and projecting radially outward therefrom, a pair of opposed cylinders on opposite sides of the disc, pistons reciprocably mounted in the cylinders, clutch pads on the pistons and positioned adjacent the clutch disc, hydraulic fluid connections to the opposed cylinders, and a manually operable pump connected to the hydraulic fluid connections.

HAROLD F. MINNIS.

REFERENCES- CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain Feb. 7, 1939 

